Email clients have been used extensively as a digital communications medium between two parties. Email clients have incorporated rule-based processing in order to facilitate organization of incoming email messages. One such example of a rule-based processing system and method is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,489 (hereinafter “the '489 patent”), by Thurlow et al., which issued on Jun. 29, 1999. In that system, a “rules wizard” is provided to an email user, thereby permitting the user to select various permutations of conditions, actions, and exceptions. Since the conditions, actions, and exceptions are described in detail in the '489 patent, further discussion of conditions, actions, and exceptions is omitted here.
While a “rules wizard” facilitates the organization of email messages, the functionality of the “rules wizard” is limited to the known subset of conditions, actions, exceptions, and various permutations thereof, which are defined for the particular email client. Additionally, the available set of rules is limited to processing email communications. Hence, those rules only provide organization mechanisms within the realm of email messages.
In view of the limitations of existing “rules wizards,” a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry.